1831.] OBITUARY.-Adm. Sir John Knight, K.C.B. derick Reynell Thackeray, of the Royal Engineers; 6. a son who died an infant; 7. Lady Jane Christian, married in 1820 to William Fullerton Lindsey Carnegie, Esq. of Spynie and Boysack, co. Angus, Esq.; 8. the Hon. John-Jervis Carnagie; 9. Lady Georgiana-Henrietta, who died in 1827 at the age of 16; and 10. the Hon. Swynfen-Thomas Carnegie, born in 1813. A portrait of the Earl of Northesk was published, in 1806, in the Naval Chronicle; and a picture of him, by T. Phillips, RA was exhibited at Somerset House in 1807. ADM. SIR JOHN Knight, K. C.B. June 16. At his seat, Woodend, Hampshire, after a very short illness, aged 83, Sir John Knight, K. C.B. Admiral of the Red. This officer was the son of Rear-Admiral John Knight, who died in 180.., with whom he embarked at an early period of life, and served in the Tartar frigate on the expeditions against Cancalle, Cherbourg, &c.; and was with the squadron under Lord Anson, which escorted her Majesty Queen Charlotte to England, in September, 1761. During the long calm that preceded the war with the colonies we find him assisting in the maritime survey of the coast of North America. In 1775, Mr. Knight was second Lieutenant of the Falcon, Capt. John Linzee, which was one of the vessels that covered the attack on Bunker's Hill. Some time after, Lieut. Knight bad the misfortune to fall into the hands of the enemy, when attempting to bring off an American vessel that had been driven on shore. After a residence of several months, on parole, at Northampton and South Hadley, in the province of Massachusetts, an exchange of prisoners took place, about Dec. 1776, and our officer returned to the duties of his profession. In Feb. 1777, he was appointed by Lord Howe to the command of the Haerlem, of 12 guns, and his judicious and spirited conduct in entering an enemy's port, and taking from thence several small vessels, was so much approved, that that nobleman directed his personal share of the prize-money to be distributed among the immediate captors. In July, 1778, the Haerlem fell in with the French fleet under Count d'Estaing, and narrowly escaped capture, having received several shot from a 50-gun ship, then in chase of a British frigate. Lieut. Knight immediately gave intelligence of his falling in with the enemy, to the ComGENT. MAG. July, 1831. 81 mander-in-Chief, and was thereupon removed into the Eagle, of 64 guns, bearing the flag of Lord Howe, with whom he returned to England in the ensuing October. Towards the conclusion of the American war, Mr. Knight had the good fortune to be appointed First Lieutenant of the Barfleur, of 98 guns, the flag-ship of Rear-Adm. Sir S. Hood, on the Leeward Island station; and to that excellent officer he owed his advancement to the rank of Post-Captain, Sept. 21, 1781, when he was appointed to the Shrewsbury, 74. He remained with Sir Samuel Hood, and was present at all his brilliant achievements in 1781 and 1782; and in such estimation were his abilities held, that, in the hour of battle with M. de Grasse's superior fleet at St. Kitt's, the Rear-Admiral removed him from the Shrewsbury, to command his own flagship the Barfleur. On the evening of the memorable 12th April, 1782, Capt. Knight received and presented to his Admiral the sword of Count de Grasse, and those of all the surviving officers of the Ville de Paris. A few days after the action, Sir Samuel Hood was detached in pursuit of the beaten enemy; and on the 19th came up with, and captured, two ships of 64 guns each, together with a frigate and a sloop. For six months preceding the peace of 1783, Prince William Henry, the present sovereign of this country, performed the duty of a midshipman in the Barfleur, a portion of each day being allotted, by the Admiral's desire, for a particular part of naval education and study under Capt. Knight, from whose tuition his Royal Highness derived acknowledged advantage. When the account of a cessation of bostilities had reached Jamaica, in March 1783, Lord Hood permitted the Prince to visit Cape François, and the Havannah; after which his Lordship returned to England with the squadron under his command, and arrived at Spithead on the 26th June. It being a period of profound peace, Capt. Knight remained without any appointment until the year 1790; when, on the appearance of a rupture with Spain, Lord Hood again hoisted his flag, and Capt. Knight was again appointed his Lordship's Captain, in the Victory of 100 guns, which he continued to command until the final adjustment of the dispute with Spain, and that which subsequently took place between Great Britain and Russia in 1791. On the commencement of the war with the French Republic, Lord Hood was immediately called forth to command a powerful fleet, destined for the 82 OBITUARY.-Capt. Sir F. J. Hartwell, Bart. Mediterranean; and Capt. Knight was again selected to accompany him. In the fatigues of service at Toulon and Corsica, he bore his full share, and received due encomiums from his noble patron, with whom he returned to England in December 1794. He continued, however, to command the Victory as a private ship, and on the 25th May sailed from St. Helen's, in company with a squadron commanded by Rear-Adm. Mann, and the trade for the Mediterranean. In the partial action which took place between the British and French fleets, July 13, 1795, the Victory particularly distinguished herself, RearAdm. Mann having shifted his flag to that ship. In December following, Sir John Jervis having hoisted his flag on board the Victory, Capt. Knight returned to England across the continent; and, on his arrival, was appointed to command the Montague, of 74 guns, belonging to the North Sea fleet. Nothing material occurred until the spring of 1797, when it was discovered that the mutiny at Spithead had spread its contagion through the ships employed under the orders of Adm. Duncan ; for, on that officer putting to sea, to cruize off the back of Yarmouth Sands, the Montague and Nassau refused to weigh their anchor, under pretence of being in the course of payment. The firmness evinced by the constituted authorities at length removed the impending evil; and the spirited and glorious conduct of these misguided men, in the action with the Dutch fleet off Camperdown, Oct. 11 that year, completely wiped away the disgrace incurred by their late proceedings. Subsequently to that victory, Capt. Knight held a separate command on the coast of Ireland; after which he served in the Channel fleet, and on the Mediterranean station, under Lords St. Vincent, Bridport, and Keith. In Aug. 1799, be returned from the latter station, and for some time commanded the advanced squadron before Brest. On this service the Montague's boats made more than one successful attack on the enemy's coasting vessels. Knight's Island, in lat. 48. S. long. 166. 44. was -named, after Sir John Knight, by his friend Capt. W. R. Broughton, who was taken prisoner with him in the Falcon in 1775, and who died in 1821. Capt. Knight was advanced to the rank of Rear-Admiral of the Blue, Jan. 1, 1801; but did not serve again during the remainder of the war. In April, 1805, his flag was flying on board the Queen, of 98 guns, under orders for the Mediterranean, and in the summer of that [July, year he succeeded to the command of Gibraltar, and hoisted his flag on board the Guerrier guard-ship, at that place. He was promoted to the rank of ViceAdmiral, in 1805; Admiral, in 1813; and nominated a K.C.B. Jan. 2, 1815. He married a daughter of the late Hon. Col. Peter Foy, Judge of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, previous to the revolt of the Colonies. By that lady he bad a numerous family; two of his sons are officers in the navy; and several of his daughters are married. To Sir John Knight's peculiar abilities, in addition to his professional talents, the Admiralty was indebted for his nautical observations, in many valuable charts of America, the Mediterranean, British Channel, &c. A portrait of him was published in the Naval Chronicle for 1804. CAPT. SIR F. J. HARTWELL, Br. June 28. In Queen Ann-street, aged 74, Sir Francis John Hartwell, Knight and Baronet, of Dale Hall, in Essex, a retired Captain in the Royal Navy. Sir Francis was the third and youngest son of Captain Brodrick Hartwell, who died Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital in 1784. At the commencement of the war with the colonies, be commanded the Rattlesnake cutter, in which he fought several smart actions with the enemy's privateers, and captured a very valuable French West Indian. On his promotion to the rank of Commander he was appointed to the Ætna bomb, stationed at Antigua, from which be succeeded to the command of the Sphynx frigate, and then to the Brune. His first commission bore date Dec. 19, 1779. In 1789, when their Majesties reviewed a squadron under Commodore Goodall at Plymouth, Capt. Hartwell commanded the Bellona, 74, in which he continued during the Spanish and Russian armaments, until paid off in 1791. Towards the close of 1792 he fitted out the Thetis, 38, at Deptford; and at the commencement of the war with revolutionary France, he cruised with considerable success in the Channel. The Thetis was paid off in Sept. 1793, and about the same period Capt. H. became a Commissioner of the Victualling Board, in which office he remained until the autumn of 1796, when he was appointed to superintend the Dock-yard at Sheerness. In the cousse of 1799 he removed to Chatham-yard; and soon after obtained a seat at the Navy Board, where be continued to sit, as a Commissioner and Deputy Comptroller, until the summer of 1814. 1831.] Lt.-Gen. Sir T. S. Beckwith.-Lt.-Gen. Sir G. Martindell. Commissioner Hartwell was knighted at St. James's Palace May 4, 1805, on the occasion of his acting as proxy for Lord Keith at the installation of the Bath: he was created a Baronet by patent dated Oct. 26, 1805. He was twice married: first, May 12, 1781, to Anna-Charlotte, eldest daughter of John Elphinstone, a Captain R.N. and then Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian fleet, by whom he bad five children, who all died young excepting his eldest son, the Rev. Houlton Hartwell, M.A. Fellow of New College, Oxford, Vicar of Loders Bradpole and Rotherhampton, in Dorsetshire, and Chaplain to the Prince Regent, who died in 1819, leaving issue by Ruth, daughter of David Ball, of Bishop's Hall, Esq. (who is re-married to Joseph Jackson, of St. Vincent's, Esq.) Sir Brodrick Hartwell, born in 1813, who has succeeded bis grandfather in the title; and two other sons. Sir Francis, having lost his first lady in 1809, married, secondly, Jan. 27, 1812, Louisa, daughter of John Aldridge, of New Lodge, in Sussex, Esq. and had a daughter, Louisa, born in 1813. LT.-GEN. SIR T. S. BECKWITH, K.C.B. Jan. 19. At Malableshwar Hills, his Excellency Lieut.-Gen. Sir Thomas Sydney Beckwith, Knt., K. C. B., K.T.S., Commander of the Forces at the Presidency of Bombay. He was a son of Major-Gen. John Beckwith, who commanded the 20th Regiment at the battle of Minden, and brother to the late Rt.-Hon. Gen. Sir George Beckwith, G.C.B. of whom a memoir will be found in our vol. XCIII. i. 372, &c. He was appointed Lieutenant in the 71st Foot in 1791, Captain in the army in 1795, in Manningham's corps of Riflemen (afterwards the 95th Foot and Rifle Brigade) 1800, Major 1802, Lieut.Colonel 1803. He served in Spain and Portugal, and was present at the battles of Vittoria, Corunna, and Busaco, for which he wore a medal and two clasps. In 1810 he was appointed to the staff in the army in Spain, as Deputy-Assistant Quartermaster general; in 1812 was promoted to be Assistant Quartermaster-general; and afterwards served as Quartermaster-general in Canada. He was knighted, May 29, 1812, on occasion of his standing as proxy for his brother at the installation of the Bath; on the 11th of March, 1813, he was allowed to wear the insignia of KnightCommander of the Tower and Sword, received for his services in the Peninsula; and he was appointed a KnightCommander of the Bath, on the extension of the Order, Jan. 5, 1815, 83 He attained the rank of Colonel in 1811, of Major-General in 1814, Colonelcommandant of the Rifle Brigade in 1827, and Lieut.-General in 1830. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief at Bombay in the month of May, 1830. Sir Thomas had an only son, who bore his own names, and was a Captain in the Rifle Brigade; he died at Gibraltar March 21, 1828. LT. GEN. SIR G. MARTINDELL, K.C.B. Jan. 2. Lieut.-General Sir Gabriel Martindell, K.C.B. commanding the garrison at Buxar, in the East Indies. This officer was appointed a cadet on the Bengal establishment in 1772, and in that capacity carried arms in a corps called "the Select Picket," which bore a distinguished part, in 1774, in the Rohilla battle of St. George. He was appointed an Ensign in 1776, and a Lieutenant in 1778, and was for several years Adjutant to the corps of Native Infantry to which he belonged. He was promoted to be Captain in 1793, Major in 1797, Lieut.-Colonel in 1801; and during the Mahratta war of 1805, 4, and 5, was twice selected for the important command of the troops in the province of Bundlecund, under circumstances of much embarrassment and difficulty. The malcontents, keeping possession of many of the strongholds in the country, maintained a harassing warfare at all seasons of the year; but the subjugation of that valuable territory was at length accomplished. In 1809, the strong fortress of Adjygurh surrendered to the troops under Lieut.-Col. Martindell's command; and in 1812 he achieved the still more important conquest of Callinger, the capital or head-quarters of the province. For each of these services he received the thanks of the Governorgeneral; and on the extension of the order of the Bath to the East India Company's service, he was one of the first officers selected for that honour, April 7, 1815. Sir G. Martindell held an important command in the mountains, during the Nepaul war, and was subsequently oceupied in restoring tranquillity to the province of Cuttack, disturbed by the incursions of a numerous banditti counected with the predatory system of the Pindarries. From 1820 to 1822 he was the principal commander of the field army. COL. JAS. M'DERMOTT. This estimable character was a native of Edinburgh, where he inherited a 84 OBITUARY.-Col. M'Dermott.-Capt. Otter, R.N. small patrimony, and was designed for business; but indulging his propensity for a military life, he entered his Majesty's service in the year 1775, at the early age of sixteen. In the following spring he embarked for America, and in May was present at the raising of the siege of Quebec, and followed the enemy up the river St. Lawrence. He was in the engagement of Trois Rivieres, and participated in the defeat of the Americans on the lakes on the 11th and 13th October. On every occasion he was distinguished for his zeal and gallantry, which, added to the suavity of his manners, attracted and conciliated the esteem of all his superior officers. He was ever actively employed on the expeditions and scouts, and always discharged his duties with honour to himself and benefit to the service. He returned to England in 1787, and in 1793 the Militia being embodied, the Duke of Grafton, then Lord Euston, being anxious that his regiment, "The West Suffolk," should excel, was pleased to appoint him on strong recommendation to discipline that corps. He elicited strong approbation from all for the manner in which his duties were performed, and to the end of his life enjoyed the esteem, friendship, and confidence of his Grace. In the year 1794, his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales appointed him Adjutant of the 10th Light Dragoons (his Royal Highness's Regt.), shortly after Cornet and Paymaster. In 1795 he was appointed to a Lieutenancy, and in 1798 purchased his troop. During the period of his serving in the 10th Light Dragoons, he was on the staff of the Earls of Harrington, Cathcart, and Bridgewater, as also of Generals Goldsworthy, Gwynn, and Cartwright, as well as of most of the Cavalry General-officers of the day, from all of whom he received the very highest testimonials of his merits and activity. Whilst Brigade-Major and SeniorCaptain of the 10th Light Dragoons, and assured of a continuation of promotion in his corps, an officer of experience, talent, and abilities being required for the Royal Military College, then in its infancy, he was selected as the fittest person to fill the vacant situation. On this being communicated to the Prince of Wales, it drew from him the bandsome eulogy, "that nothing should induce him to part with Captain M'Dermott's valuable services, save their being required at a public institution of this description." Yielding to this strong claim from his country his Royal Highness presented Capt. M'Dermott with an elegant sword, the in [July, scription on which was expressive of the personal esteem his Royal Highness felt for him, and as a testimonial of his long and meritorious services in the 10th Light Dragoons. He joined the Royal Military College in 1803, where he entered upon the arduous duties of his si tuation in a manner that will ever reflect the highest honour upon his memory. In 1807 he was appointed Major and Superintendant of the Junior Department, in 1813 promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and in 1830 to that of Colonel. By those numerous officers brought up under his care at this institution, and many of them filling most distinguished situations, will be gratefully recollected the high principles of honour, coupled with the punctilious deportment of a gentleman, he so strictly inculcated as essential to the military character. He retired from the Military College in 1829. His remains were conveyed to that establishment for interment, where they were attended to the grave by those of his compatriots at that place, Officers and Professors. Of Colonel M'Dermott it may be safely said, "He has not left an enemy behind him." CAPT. OTTER, R.N. June 2. At York, Charles Otter, Esq. a Post-Captain R.N. Capt. Otter entered the service as Midshipman on board the Minerva of 70 guns, commanded by Capt. John Gell, in 1780, and bore a part in the battles between Sir Edward Hughes and M. de Suffrein, Feb. 17, April 12, July 6, and Sept. 3, 1782, as also in the action off Cuddalore, June 20, 1783. He subsequently served in the Nautilus sloop of war, and Stately of 64 guns, under the commands of Capts. T. B. Thompson and Calder, the former employed on the coast of Africa and at Newfoundland, the latter forming one of the grand fleet during the Spanish armament. Mr. Otter received his first commission in 1790, and served as second Lieutenant of the Crescent frigate at the capture of Le Reunion 36, near Cherbourg, Oct. 20, 1793. He was first Lieutenant of the same ship when she encountered a French squadron off Guernsey, June 8, 1794, and of the Orion 74, in Lord Bridport's action off l'Orient, June 23, 1795, on which latter occasion he was raised to the rank of Commander. Capt. Otter commanded the Morgiana sloop of war during the Egyptian expedition, and brought home the duplicate dispatches announcing the fall of Alex 1831.] OBITUARY.-Mrs. Siddons. andria in 1801. He afterwards accompanied a squadron under Rear-Adm. George Campbell to the West Indies, whence he returned to Portsmouth, May 17, 1802, and found he had been promoted to post rank on the 29th of the preceding month. In the autumn of 1807 Capt. Otter obtained the command of the Proserpine 40, in which he conveyed Lord Leveson Gower, our Ambassador to Russia, from Gottenburgh to England. On the evening of Feb. 27, 1809, the Proserpine was captured by a French squadron off Toulon; and Capt. Otter remained a prisoner in France until the close of the war. On the 30th May, 1814, he was tried by a court martial for the loss of the Proserpine, and honourably acquitted of all blame on that occasion, the Court agreeing that the ship had been defended in a most gallant and determined manner, and that her colours were not struck until resistance was of no avail. MRS. SIDDONS. June. In Upper Baker-street, aged 75, Mrs. Sarah Siddons, the cele brated actress. This highly talented lady was born at Brecknock, the eldest daughter of Mr. Roger Kemble, the manager of an itinerant company of comedians, and made her first essay as a singer, but soon abandoned that line and attempted tragedy. Early in life she conceived a passion for Mr. Siddons, in which not being indulged by her parents, she quitted the stage, and engaged herself as lady's maid in the family of Mrs. Greatheed, of Guy's-Cliff, near Warwick, where she remained about a year; and then resolving to unite herself with the man of her affections, she was married to Mr. Siddons, and soon after joined a strolling company of no great reputation. Both she and her busband had, however, the good fortune to be engaged by Mr. Younger, to perform at Liverpool, Birmingham, &c.; with him sbe remained a few years, and acquired a celebrity which procured her an engagement at Drury Lane. The following is a description of her first appearance as Portia, Dec. 29, 1775 :-" On before us tottered, rather than walked, a very pretty, delicate, fragile looking young creature, dressed in a most unbecoming manner, a faded salmon-coloured sack and coat, and uncertain whereabouts to fix either her eyes or her feet. She spoke in a broken tremulous tone, and, at the close of a sentence, her words generally lapsed into a 85 hurried whisper that was absolutely inaudible. After her first exit the buzzing comment round the pit ran generally, 'She is certainly very pretty, but then how awkward! and what a shocking dresser!' Towards the famous trial scene she became more collected, and delivered the great speech to Shylock with the most critical propriety, but still with a faintness of utterance which seemed the result rather of an internal physical weakness than a deficiency of spirit or feeling. Altogether, the im pression made upon the audience by this first effort was of the most negative description."-She was at that time considered merely as a second-rate actress; and being unfortunately placed in an unsuccessful after-piece written by the editor of a newspaper, who left no opportunity of injuring her reputation, she quitted the London boards for a time, to return to them afterwards with increased lustre. At Bath, whither she repaired, she was observed to improve rapidly, and is said to have been usefully assisted by the lessons of Mr. Pratt, then a bookseller in that city. She had also the good fortune to be patronized by the Duchess of Devonshire, who procured her another engagement at Drury Lane. Before she quitted Bath she spoke a farewell address, which she herself bad written, and which she delivered with her usual excellence. Mrs. Siddons made her second appearance at Drury Lane on the 10th Oct. 1782, in the character of Isabella. Her fame was soon spread abroad, and the theatre overflowed every night; the taste for tragedy returned; and the manager, whose "Critic" seemed to have been expressly written to drive Melpomene from the stage, far from being ungrateful, generously gave Mrs. Siddons an extra benefit and increased her salary. Her good success was the means of introducing her sister, Miss F. Kemble, on the same stage; who played Alicia, to her sister's Jane Shore, but shortly after retired, on her marriage with Mr. Twiss, a literary gentleman, and a well-known traveller. Mrs. Siddons's extra benefit was given her before Christmas; she then appeared in Belvidera, and gained fresh laurels, and an enormous receipt. The two counsellors, Pigot and Feilding, were so highly delighted, that they collected a subscription among the gentlemen of the bar, of one hundred guineas, and presented them to her, accompanied with a polite letter, as a token of their esteem. This was an honour which had not been conferred on any actor or |